Tag: education

8 No Prep Ways to Provide Choice in Any Lesson

8 No Prep Ways to Provide Choice in Any Lesson

Why not start small? Providing choices for learners does not have to be extravagant projects or tasks such as choice boards. It can also be the small, simple options we give our learners between projects and tasks. They can be as simple as allowing learners to make a choice about where they sit in the lesson or how they interact when answering a question. These simple choices provide snippets of autonomy for learners and are designed in a way that allows learners to see that they will be successful in at least one of the options.

+ 1 Series: Small Routines with Big Impact: Tell Your Neighbour

+ 1 Series: Small Routines with Big Impact: Tell Your Neighbour

This routine allows learners to verbalise their thinking and learning to a peer as well as allowing them to hear the learning of others. In telling your neighbour learners are first given a problem to solve. They have a set amount of time to solve the problem. This depends on the problem or task of course. Then learners are given time to think about how they solved the problem. They can do this by drawing/diagram, writing or thinking in their heads. This is silent time. Then learners turn to their neighbour and tell them their answer and how they solved the problem.

+1 Series: Small Routines with Big Impact: Learning Goal

+1 Series: Small Routines with Big Impact: Learning Goal

A clear goal is the very foundation of effective curriculum (Meyer, Rose, & Gordon, 2014). Why not represent the learning goal in multiple ways for learners? This routine supports learners to know and have a clear example of what they will be able to do by the end of the lesson as well as representing the learning goal in many ways.

+1 Series: Small Routines with Big Impact: Independent Practice

+1 Series: Small Routines with Big Impact: Independent Practice

This routine is very simple yet so effective! We all know those learners who need a bit more support or a confidence boost to get them on their way for independent practice of a skill or concept taught. This routine gives learners the autonomy to decide if they are ready for independent practice or not.

+1 Series: Small Routines with Big Impact: Vocabulary Choice Board

+1 Series: Small Routines with Big Impact: Vocabulary Choice Board

We all know how important vocabulary is to reading comprehension and the importance of teaching vocabulary explicitly (Fisher et al., 2016). This routine is used after the explicit teaching of vocabulary. This routine allows learners to review and apply their understanding of the focus word in different ways.

+1 Series: Small Routines with Big Impact: One Minute Pause

+1 Series: Small Routines with Big Impact: One Minute Pause

One minute pause is a routine that allows learners time to reflect and process the learning that has just occurred. This allows learners to deepen their understanding of the topic just learned (Stein, 2024). This routine is referred to by Elizabeth Stein (2024), as a strategy that teaches within the spaces of teaching.